Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel...

The Caribbean on a Budget

Now is the perfect time to head to the Caribbean for less. With lower airfares, accommodations specials, and many other money-saving options, the islands are easier than ever to enjoy on a budget. Thus, smart island-hoppers will find the Caribbean is on sale.

“A number of hotels and airlines have discounted vacation packages for travel to the Caribbean,” says Michael Youngman, director of marketing for the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), which offers a great Caribbean Vacation Planner to visitors at their website (www.doitcaribbean.com). “With competitive pricing, there’s no better time than now to experience paradise at a discounted price!”

Long a popular choice in the Caribbean with kids and kids at heart, the seven resort destinations with Marriott & Renaissance Offshore Resorts offer a wide array of activities and programs for children and their parents (and grandparents). Whether you choose the Renaissance Jamaica Grande, the Aruba Marriott Resort, the Renaissance Grand Beach Resort and the Marriott Frenchman’s Reef on St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Curaçao Marriott Beach Resort, or the Marriott CasaMagna Cancun and Marriott CasaMagna Puerto Vallarta in Mexico, you’re sure to find an ideal Caribbean experience.

At the Renaissance Jamaica Grande, kids can immerse themselves in Jamaican culture when they join the "Club Mongoose," featuring reggae dance classes, steel pan drum lessons, and a visit to a local Jamaican school, as part of the club's "cultural exchange program." In addition, a new teen center offers computer stations with e-mail access.

At Renaissance Grand Beach Resort, St. Thomas, families can participate in "Dive in Movies" each Friday night, when family-friendly movies are shown poolside, complete with ice cream stands and popcorn carts offering enjoyable snacks. Over at the Marriott Frenchman's Reef, families can enjoy garden walks/horticultural tours, experience "Dive in Movies," or learn how to prepare scrumptious dishes at "Chef's Secrets" cooking lessons. While the kids are busy serving lunch to iguanas at educational daily feedings, parents can slip away to tantalize their taste-buds at the hotel's wine and rum tasting sessions.

Further south in the Caribbean, families can learn about the endangered lizard in the Aruba Marriott Resort's very own iguana sanctuary mini-habitat. Down on Curaçao, making local candy or teeing up at a Pro Kids golf clinic is all part of the "Coconut Kids" program at the Curaçao Marriott Beach Resort.

Finally, over on the Mexico’s Caribbean coast along the Yucatan peninsula, with “Marriott’s Kids Club” at the Marriott CasaMagna Cancun, children can go on snorkeling excursions, take Spanish lessons, and participate in swimming contests and arts & crafts. The highlight of the club, however, is the “Sea Turtle Rescue Program,” in which kids save sea turtles by collecting eggs off the resort beach and then returning the endangered animals to the water during a release ceremony once they’re hatched. Down at the Marriott CasaMagna Puerto Vallarta, families can learn Mexican cooking techniques or participate in that resort’s similar turtle rescue program. Kids can also learn Spanish or take pottery lessons, while adults can attend after-dinner cigar rolling demonstrations.

For more information visit www.offshoreresorts.com or call Marriott at (800) 223-6388 or Renaissance at (800) 421-8188.

If you're looking for bargains in the Caribbean, then Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn SunSpree(R) Resorts ((800) HOLIDAY; www.holiday-inn.com or www.sunspreeresorts.com can provide you a tropical vacation you can afford to remember--”Tropical Places, Familiar Faces!”

Whether you are planning a honeymoon, family vacation, or just a relaxing getaway, Holiday Inn’s hotels and resorts in the Caribbean combine beautiful, exotic destinations with all the welcome hospitality and affordable quality that you have come to expect from Holiday Inn.

With Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn SunSpree locations including Aruba, Nassau, Paradise Island, Grand Bahamas, Grand Cayman, Jamaica, Puerto Rico (Ponce and Mayaquez), and St. Thomas, the tropical resorts of Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn SunSpree can set you free for little cash in the Caribbean.

Holiday Inn SunSpree Resorts also give you more for your vacation dollar, with a variety of on-site activities and recreational facilities. At each resort, visitors will find on-site and local activities and an Activities Coordinator who helps put everything together.

The kids will definitely have more fun with supervised kids programs and the Kids Eat and Stay Free offers. Parents will relax, knowing the kids are having a great time, and honeymooners can enjoy some R&R, go sightseeing, shopping, or just relax on the beach.

With the variety of Caribbean choices, the unique Holiday Inn SunSpree resort concept, and the Holiday Inn name, it's hard to beat the deals. Known for their family-friendly policies, Holiday Inn Hotels remain the largest single hotel brand and the most widely recognized lodging brand in the world. Holiday Inn SunSpree has more than 25 locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.

With Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn SunSpree in the Caribbean, you've found a great holiday at a great price--“Tropical Places, Familiar Faces!”

Antigua Resorts (800)345-0356; www.antigua-resorts.com) offers the ideal Antigua experience, plus options on other Caribbean islands. If you’re looking for a company with long-time Antigua (and Caribbean) expertise, give them a call or visit their great website.

Antigua Resorts is a collection of five unique three-, four-, and five-star resorts located on Antigua, where veteran and first-time visitors alike find some of the world’s finest beaches, first-class international cuisine, a wide variety of accommodations options, and more. The company’s options include: Galley Bay, Jolly Harbour, St. James’s Club, Royal Antiguan, and, most recently, Allegro Pineapple Beach Club. As the excellent Antigua Resorts website reveals, each resort offers it’s own unique qualities.

Galley Bay is best known for its secluded natural beauty, a 3/4-mile pristine beach, and just 70 rooms. Jolly Harbour’s 500 waterfront villas are on 500 lush tropical acres and bordered by more than a mile of beachfront. Situated on a 100-acre private peninsula and featuring 250 elegant rooms, suites, and lavish villas, St. James’s Club is renowned as Antigua’s most glamorous address. Royal Antiguan combines a bit of adventure with modern amenities, including a sunken schooner, hiking, tropical gardens, and a half-mile beach. Finally, Allegro Pineapple Beach Club features a premium location, while guests enjoy the results of extensive renovation from 1998-99. The addition of this last property to their inventory means Antigua Resorts represents more than 50% of the island’s availability of hotel accommodations.

This experienced company also offers some additional Caribbean options These include Jack Tar Village on St. Kitts and Palm Island in the Grenadines. When you combine them with the options on Antigua, seven is any Caribbean visitor’s lucky number!

If you’re looking for something unique in the Caribbean, try Curaçao, an island just 40 miles off the coast of Venezuela, nestled between Aruba to the west and Bonaire to the east.

Curaçao is a relatively large island--about 40 miles long and ten miles at its widest point. But even though it's much bigger than Barbados or Nassau in The Bahamas, it boasts a population half their size, so it has a spacious and uncrowded feel.

Because of its ties to Europe (it has been part of Holland for centuries) and South America (Venezuelans have vacationed here for decades), it's a very cosmopolitan island, with a population equally fluent in Dutch, English, Spanish, and the local language, Papiamentu.

North Americans are only just beginning to discover the charms of Curaçao. During a typical week there will be under 500 Americans staying on the island, blending easily into the population of 140,000 friendly people. Tourism itself is not yet that visible: no more than 4,000 people visit the island at any one time, so visitors feel part of a community, rather than part of a tourist destination.

But this doesn't mean there is nothing to do. Curaçao has first-class diving and snorkeling, and more than 40 white sand beaches. The historic architecture of its capital city, Willemstad, makes it one of just six locations in the Caribbean designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There's an 18-hole championship golf course, numerous restaurants and open air cafés offering many cuisines, 13 casinos, and varied shopping.

Curaçao has daily non-stop air service from Miami on American Airlines and ALM. Air Jamaica offers service three times weekly via Montego Bay from major US gateways. Tour operators offer attractively priced packages to Curaçao.

For further information, call (800) 3CURACAO or visit www.curacao-tourism.com.

After more than 30 years, Windjammer Barefoot Cruises ((305) 672-6453; www.windjammer.com) has returned to Miami, sailing four-, five-, and eight-day cruises to the region that launched the cruise line more than 50 years ago--the beautiful and mystical Bahamas.

“It’s very exciting to be returning to Miami,” says Susan Burke, president of Windjammer. “It is where our corporate offices are located and it is the port where my father, Cap’n Mike, started our unique cruise line back in 1947. This summer, S/V Legacy, is docked at Bicentennial Park in downtown Miami, with convenient access to Bayfront Park and the Port of Miami.

The ship is sailing itineraries that includes Bimini, Gun Cay, Great Abaco, the Berry Islands, and Freeport. Should passengers want an abbreviated cruise, Nassau will serve as the ship’s Bahamian port. The four-day itinerary has Legacy sailing from Miami to Nassau, while the five-day itinerary sails from Nassau to Miami (visiting a largely different series of islands). The eight-day itinerary combines the two legs, sailing round-trip from Miami.

Fares for Windjammer’s Bahamas cruises begin at just $345 for the four-day cruise, $460 for the five-day itinerary, and $700 for the eight-day cruise. Fares include onboard accommodations, all meals, onboard entertainment, and select drinks (including early-morning Bloody Marys, rum swizzles, wine with dinner, and coffee or tea).

Founded in 1947 by WWII Navy Submariner Mike Burke, Windjammer Barefoot Cruises is the largest operator of tall ships in the world. The fleet of six includes Flying Cloud, Legacy, Mandalay, Polynesia, Yankee Clipper, and the lone freighter/passenger M/V Amazing Grace. The fleet sails year-round from The Bahamas to South America on four-, five-, six-, eight-, and 13-day voyages.

If you want personal service, decades of experience in the Caribbean, and great prices on varied packages, then contact Inter Island Tours ((800) 245-3434); www.interislandtours.com). Now in their 30th year and long-recognized as a travel industry leader by hotels, inns, airlines, and governments, Inter Island Tours is an American Airlines preferred wholesaler and contractor to the Caribbean and Latin America.

Still owned and operated by founders Bob, Marilyn, and Greg Thorne, Inter Island Tours features a wide variety of offerings to Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Aruba, Barbados, Curaçao, Jamaica, St. Martin/St. Maarten, The Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and several Latin American destinations, like Peru, Costa Rica, and Brazil.

Their ‘paradores’ packages in Puerto Rico are a great example of the unusual and personal offerings Inter Island Tours provides. Paradores are country inns that offer Puerto Rico’s visitors a more intimate vacation experience. Each of them boasts their own charm and personality, but all meet government standards to assure quality.

From the rain forest to the beach and everywhere in between, there are great Inter Island paradores and small inn offerings like the Fajardo Inn, Villas del Mar Hau, Lazy Parrot, Copamarina, and many more. Throw in easy connecting flights with American Airlines and a Hertz rental car, and you have one of the most unique vacation opportunities in the Caribbean at an affordable price.

The paradores provide just one example of the difference Inter Island Tours makes when it comes to experience, variety, and value. Throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, Inter Island Tours brings experience, service, and value to every customer they serve. It all starts with a toll-free call or visit to their excellent website.